An International Showcase for Industrial Valves (and Pumps)

From November 27th to 29th industrial valve manufacturers and end users will be meeting in Düsseldorf at Valve World Expo 2018. During the press conference, the increasingly international make up of the event was strongly underlined, this year, coming together with the Pump Summit, the world of pumps under one roof.

di Silvia Crespi

At the end of November at the Dusseldorf exhibition centre, Valve World Expo 2018 will get under way. Now in its 11th edition (1998 saw the birth of the event, which has been held in Dusseldorf since 2008), the biennial event brings together industrial valve constructors as well as producers of complementary products like actuators and compressors.
“Valves are fundamental components in most industrial sectors – confirmed Gerrit Nawracala – Deputy Director, Global Portfolio Metals and Flow Technology at Messe Dusseldorf during the press conference in Milan last month. “The leitmotiv for this fair is to create a dedicated platform for such components, independently from their specific function. Specialist visitors are coming from extremely diversified sectors: petro-chemical, oil, gas, chemical, marine and offshore, food, water management, automobile, mechanical construction, pharma, medical as well as electrical power plants.

An increasingly international event
At this year’s event, more than 700 companies coming from over 40 countries are present in a show area of around 20.000 sqm. At the previous edition in 2016, more than 12.000 specialist visitors, representing 89 countries were there: proof of the growing international stature of the fair. “Our goal is to attract an increasing number of visitors from outside Europe. Italy and Germany are practically saturated markets; this is a good reason to strategically research new markets from other continents”. Italian representation is confirmed at the level of the previous edition. As we go to press, 113 companies have registered with 17 “new entries” compared to 2016. Italian visitor numbers are among the top ten nations as are Germans. Nawracala explains the reasons for the success of Valve World Expo: “Dusseldorf is right at the heart of Germany, a strategic position. The fair involves the entire value chain, from raw materials to the finished product, creating a platform for dialogue across manufacturers, suppliers and end users. Attention this year will be focused on hot topics like M2M communication control and management systems, smart manufacturing and plenty more besides”. The programme of workshops and conferences will also be rich with internationally renowned speakers taking part.

The Pump Summit adding to event attraction
This year’s special event, the Pump Summit will perfectly accompany the main business as it will help to create a bridge of content spanning the two sectors. “The world of pumps is partially connected to that of valves, Nawracala continues. Despite applicative fields being similar, pumps are much more specific products often developed in partnership with the final client”. The Pump Summit will showcase the latest developments in the field with visitors being able to take advantage of valuable synergies. The range on show will vary from industrial pumps to connectors, pressure management, testing equipment, pumping system management all the way to service and performance control for the industry. Pump Summit is further enriched through the presence of experts in the field who will focus on networking and relationship building through workshops and conferences concerning pump application across multiple sectors including chemical, petrochemical, oil and gas, energy and construction, shipyards, water management and many more.